Food habits of American Kestrels in the Southern High Plains of Texas
Clint W. Boal, M.A. Thornely, S.D. Mullican
2021, Journal of Raptor Research (55) 574-583
The American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) is in general decline across its North American distribution. In contrast to widespread patterns of decline, kestrel populations appear stable in the southern Great Plains region. Historically, this region had a very low occurrence of kestrels, and their current abundance...
U.S. Geological Survey invasive species research—Improving detection, awareness, decision support, and control
Cindy Kolar Tam, Wesley M. Daniel, Earl Campbell, James J. English, Suzanna C. Soileau
2021, Circular 1485
More than 6,500 nonindigenous species are now established in the United States, posing risks to human and wildlife health, native plants and animals, and our valued ecosystems. The annual environmental, economic, and health-related costs of invasive species are substantial. Invasive species can drive native species onto the endangered species list,...
Setting and tracking suppression targets for sea lampreys in the Great Lakes
Ted Treska, Mark P. Ebener, Gavin Christie, Jean V. Adams, Michael J Siefkes
2021, Journal of Great Lakes Research (47) S357-S367
In response to invasive species, the course of action taken by management agencies often evolves over a range of options from a do-nothing approach to suppression to complete eradication. As a case study of suppression targets, we explore the history of...
Hydrogeomorphic recovery and temporal changes in rainfall thresholds for debris flows following wildfire
Olivia J. Hoch, Luke A. McGuire, Ann M. Youberg, Francis K. Rengers
2021, JGR Earth Surface (126)
Wildfire-induced changes to soil and vegetation promote runoff-generated debris flows in steep watersheds. Postfire debris flows are most commonly observed in steep watersheds during the first wet season following a wildfire, but it is unclear how long the elevated threat of debris flow persists and why debris-flow...
Carbon and ecohydrological priorities in managing woody encroachment: UAV perspective 63 years after a control treatment
Temuulen T. Sankey, Jackson Leonard, Margaret Moore, Joel B. Sankey, Adam Belmonte
2021, Environmental Research Letters
Woody encroachment, including both woody species expansion and density increase, is a globally observed phenomenon that deteriorates arid and semi-arid rangeland health, biodiversity, and ecosystem services. Mechanical and chemical control treatments are commonly performed to reduce woody cover and restore ecohydrologic function. While the immediate impacts of...
Effects of stocking density on stress response and susceptibility to infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus in rainbow trout
Jenna J Klug, Piper M Treuting, George E. Sanders, James Winton, Gael Kurath
2021, Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science (60) 637-645
The goals of this study were to examine the effect of stocking density on the stress response and disease susceptibility in juvenile rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Fish were sorted into one of 2 stocking densities (high density "HD", 20-40 kg/m3) or (low density, "LD", 4-8 kg/m3)...
Shoreface and Holocene sediment thickness offshore of Rockaway Peninsula, New York
Emily A. Wei, Jennifer L. Miselis, Arnell S. Forde
2021, Open-File Report 2021-1100
During September and October 2019, the U.S. Geological Survey mapped the shoreface and inner continental shelf offshore of the Rockaway Peninsula in New York using high-resolution chirp seismic reflection and single-beam bathymetry geophysical techniques. The results from this study are important for assessing the Quaternary evolution of the Rockaway Peninsula...
Exposure of predatory and scavenging birds to anticoagulant rodenticides in France: Exploration of data from French surveillance programs
Meg-Anne Moriceau, Sebastien Lefebvre, Isabelle Fourel, Etienne Benoit, Florence Buronfosse, Pascal Orabi, Barnett A. Rattner, Virginie Lattard
2021, Science of the Total Environment (810)
Wild raptors are widely used to assess exposure to different environmental contaminants, including anticoagulant rodenticides (ARs). ARs are used on a global scale for rodent control, and act by disruption of the vitamin K cycle that results in haemorrhage usually accompanied by death within...
Viral-like particles are associated with endosymbiont pathology in Florida corals affected by stony coral tissue loss disease
Thierry M. Work, Tina M. Weatherby, Jan H. Landsberg, Yasunaru Kiryu, Samantha M. Cook, Esther C. Peters
2021, Frontiers in Marine Science (8)
Stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) was first documented in 2014 near the Port of Miami, Florida, and has since spread north and south along Florida’s Coral Reef, killing large numbers of more than 20 species of coral and leading to the functional extinction of at least one...
Testing models of Laramide orogenic initiation by investigation of Late Cretaceous magmatic-tectonic evolution of the central Mojave sector of the California arc
R.C Economos, Andrew P. Barth, J.L. Wooden, S. R Paterson, Brody Friesenhahn, B.A Weigand, J.L. Anderson, J.L. Roell, E.F. Palmer, A.J. Ianno, Keith A. Howard
2021, Geosphere (17) 2042-2061
The Mojave Desert region is in a critical position for assessing models of Laramide orogenesis, which is hypothesized to have initiated as one or more seamounts subducted beneath the Cretaceous continental margin. Geochronological and geochemical characteristics of Late Cretaceous magmatic products provide the opportunity to test the validity of Laramide...
The Boreal-Arctic Wetland and Lake Dataset (BAWLD)
David Olefeldt, Mikael Hovemyr, M.A. Kuhn, D Bastviken, T.J. Bohn, J. Connolly, P.M. Crill, E.S. Euskirchen, S.A. Finkelstein, H. Genet, G. Grosse, L.I. Harris, L. Heffernan, M. Helbig, G. Hugelium, R. Hutchins, S. Juutinen, M.J. Lara, A. Malhotra, Kristen L. Manies, A.D. McGuire, S.M. Natali, J. A. O’Donnell, F-J.W. Parmentier, A. Rasanen, C. Schaedel, O. Sonnentag, M. Strack, S.E. Tank, C. C. Treat, R.K. Varner, T. Virtanen, J.D. Watts, R.K. Warren
2021, Earth System Science Data (13) 5127-5149
Methane emissions from boreal and arctic wetlands, lakes, and rivers are expected to increase in response to warming and associated permafrost thaw. However, the lack of appropriate land cover datasets for scaling field-measured methane emissions to circumpolar scales has contributed to a large uncertainty for our understanding of present-day and...
Regression models for estimating sediment, nutrient concentrations and loads at School Branch at Brownsburg, Indiana, June 2015 through February 2019
Myles S. Downhour, Aubrey R. Bunch, Timothy R. Lathrop
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5099
Sediment and nutrient transport in the School Branch watershed (in central Indiana west of Indianapolis) is considered to be heavily affected by agricultural land use throughout the watershed. In 2015, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, deployed continuous water-quality monitors and began collecting...
Groundwater/surface-water interactions in the Partridge River Basin and evaluation of hypothetical future mine pits, Minnesota
Megan J. Haserodt, Randall J. Hunt, Michael N. Fienen, Daniel T. Feinstein
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5038
The Partridge River Basin (PRB) covers 156 square miles in northeastern Minnesota with headwaters in the Mesabi Iron Range. The basin is characterized by extensive wetlands, lakes, and streams in poorly drained and often thin glacial material overlying Proterozoic bedrock. To better understand the interaction between these extensive surface water...
Monitoring and modeling tree bat (Genera: Lasiurus, Lasionycteris) occurrence using acoustics on structures off the mid-Atlantic coast—Implications for offshore wind development
Michael C. True, Richard J. Reynolds, W. Mark Ford
2021, Animals (11)
In eastern North America, “tree bats” (Genera: Lasiurus and Lasionycteris) are highly susceptible to collisions with wind energy turbines and are known to fly offshore during migration. This raises concern about ongoing expansion of offshore wind-energy development off the Atlantic Coast. Season, atmospheric conditions, and site-level characteristics such...
Olfactory lures in predator control do not increase predation risk to birds in areas of conservation concern
Page E. Klug, Amy A. Yackel Adams, Robert Reed
2021, Wildlife Research (49) 183-192
Context: Lethal control of predators is often undertaken to protect species of conservation concern. Traps are frequently baited to increase capture efficacy, but baited traps can potentially increase predation risk by attracting predators to protected areas. This is especially important if targeted predators can escape capture due to low trap success....
Groundwater hydrology and chemistry of Jamestown Island, Virginia—Potential effects of tides, storm surges, and sea-level rise on archaeological, cultural, and ecological resources
Kurt J. McCoy, Karen C. Rice, Ellyn Rickles, Dave Frederick, Jennifer Cramer, Dorothy Geyer
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5117
As the site of the first permanent English settlement in North America in 1607, Jamestown Island, Colonial National Historical Park (COLO), Virginia, contains a rich archaeological record that extends from the Paleoindian period (15,000 to 8,000 years ago) through the 20th century. The island is located on the lower James...
Method for compiling temporally and spatially aggregated data on hydraulic fracturing—Treatments and wells
Brian A. Varela, Tanya J. Gallegos
2021, Open-File Report 2021-1090
This report provides a step-by-step method for compiling hydraulic fracturing data in the United States from the IHS Markit, 2019, U.S. Well History and Production Relational Database. Data on hydraulically fractured wells include their location (geologic province, State, county), well type (oil or gas), orientation (directional, horizontal, or vertical), spud...
Statistical methods used in research concerning endangered and threatened animal species of Puerto Rico: A meta-study
S.J. Rivera, K.M. Alpi, Jaime A. Collazo, M.K. Stoskopf
2021, Caribbean Journal of Science (51) 225-241
A concern about statistics in wildlife studies, particularly of endangered and threatened species, is whether the data collected meet the assumptions necessary for the use of parametric statistics. This study identified published papers on the nine endangered and six threatened species found only on Puerto Rico using five different databases....
Distribution of tiger salamanders in northern Sonora, Mexico: Comparison of sampling methods and possible implications for an endangered subspecies
Blake R. Hossack, Julio A. Lemos-Espinal, Brent H. Sigafus, Erin L. Muths, Gerardo Carreon Arroyo, Daniel Toyos Martinez, David Hurtado Felix, Guillermo Molina Padilla, Caren S. Goldberg, T. R. Jones, M. J. Sredl, Thierry Chambert, J. C. Rorabaugh
2021, Amphibia-Reptilia (43) 13-23
Many aquatic species in the arid USA-Mexico borderlands region are imperiled, but limited information on distributions and threats often hinders management. To provide information on the distribution of the Western Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma mavortium), including the USA-federally endangered Sonoran Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma mavortium stebbinsi), we used traditional (seines, dip-nets) and...
Seven decades of coastal change at Barter Island, Alaska: Exploring the importance of waves and temperature on erosion of coastal permafrost bluffs
Ann E. Gibbs, Li H. Erikson, Benjamin M. Jones, Bruce M. Richmond, Anita C Engelstad
2021, Remote Sensing (13)
Observational data of coastal change over much of the Arctic are limited largely due to its immensity, remoteness, harsh environment, and restricted periods of sunlight and ice-free conditions. Barter Island, Alaska, is one of the few locations where an extensive, observational dataset exists, which enables a detailed assessment of the...
Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay for detection of Asian fish tapeworm, Schyzocotyle acheilognathi (Yamaguti, 1934) [syn. Bothriocephalus acheilognathi]
Erik K. Hofmeister, Fiona Antigoni Georgousi, Melissa Lund, Constance Roderick, Anindo Choudhury, Gary Whelan, Rebecca A. Cole
2021, Journal of Parasitology (107) 846-852
The Asian fish tapeworm (Schyzocotyle acheilognathi syn. Bothriocephalus acheilognathi) (AFT) is an invasive parasite that can infect many species of fish, although most hosts are primarily members of Cyprinidae. Pathogenicity has most often been reported in aquaculture settings in fry and fingerling stages of carp (Cyprinus spp.). More recently, it...
Expanding freshwater biologger studies to view fish as environmental sensing platforms
Richard Kraus, Helen Bontrager, Chris Vandergoot, Matthew Faust
2021, Marine and Freshwater Research (73) 133-139
While recording fish habitat use by electronic sensors, biologgers can also be viewed as autonomous environmental monitoring systems with the organism as a vehicle. This dual perspective has provided novel results from marine ecosystems, but has not been applied to freshwater ecosystems. To understand limitations in fresh water,...
A basin-scale approach to estimating recharge in the desert: Anza-Cahuilla groundwater basin, CA
Michelle A. Stern, Lorraine E. Flint, Alan L. Flint, Allen H. Christensen
2021, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (57) 990-1003
The Anza-Cahuilla groundwater basin located mainly in the semi-arid headwaters of the Santa Margarita River watershed in southern California is the principle source of groundwater for a rural disadvantaged community and two Native American Tribes, the Ramona Band of Cahuilla and the Cahuilla. Groundwater in the study area is derived...
Modeling marsh dynamics using a 3-D coupled wave-flow-sediment model
Tarandeep S. Kalra, Neil K. Ganju, Alfredo Aretxabaleta, Joel A. Carr, Zafer Defne, Julia Moriarty
2021, Frontiers in Marine Science (8)
Salt marshes are dynamic biogeomorphic systems that respond to external physical factors, including tides, sediment transport, and waves, as well as internal processes such as autochthonous soil formation. Predicting the fate of marshes requires a modeling framework that accounts for these processes in a coupled fashion. In this study, we...
Geologic map of the State of Hawaii
David R. Sherrod, John M. Sinton, Sarah E. Watkins, Kelly M. Brunt
2021, Scientific Investigations Map 3143
This geologic map and its digital databases present the geology of the eight major islands of the State of Hawaiʻi. The map should serve as a useful guide to anyone studying the geologic setting and history of Hawai‘i, including ground- and surface-water resources, economic deposits, and landslide or volcanic hazards....
